Chapter 266: Straight Feelings

When Li Piaoqing stepped into the State Yamen with some trepidation, she felt as if the Luzhou Poetry Society had been moved here today.

It was really a bit caught off guard. She had thought she was going to meet the person she was thinking of, but when she arrived, she saw brocade robes shuttling back and forth, laughter and talk, and even some feasting, which could be called dazzling.

It was reasonable to think so. She was definitely not the first person to get the news. In a small state like Bowang, even a warrior on the Fu List would be a guest of honor for many dignitaries, and now the one stopping here was the third on the Crane List, the Yunlang successor.

True disciples of sects like Zhang Mozhu naturally rushed over, and wealthy young masters like Zhang Dingyun were also indispensable, as well as officials, scholars, and wealthy merchants... Everyone who had some connections gathered here.

But such an atmosphere did indeed soften the tension in the girl's heart. She scanned the area and didn't see that white-clothed figure she had imagined in this front courtyard. But she was indeed not in a hurry to see it yet, but was searching with her heart tightened, wanting to see another familiar figure first.

Everyone here looked very happy. Pei Ye must be very happy too. When she saw him this time, she must ignore his stiff avoidance and jump up happily to ask him about Ming Ming Jianzhu Ming... The two of them could start talking again.

However, she scanned the courtyard and didn't see that youth.

Just as she was wondering, a familiar figure strode out from inside. This man, who was usually graceful, now had flushed cheeks, a dazed expression, and was muttering to himself.

Li Piaoqing stopped him: "Zhang Mozhu, what are you doing?"

Zhang Mozhu didn't even turn his head, raised a hand in a daze: "Don't, don't bother me, I'm going back to practice the sword..."

"..." Li Piaoqing was a bit confused, "Have you seen Pei Ye?"

Zhang Mozhu didn't answer at all and went his own way.

Just as she was wondering, a human voice came from beside her: "Young Master Zhang seems to have gained a lot."

Turning her head, it was Zhang Dingyun. Seeing the girl looking over, the little fatty smiled: "Ming Ming Jianzhu Ming is lecturing on the sword inside. Why did the young sect master come so late!"

"Ah?" Li Piaoqing widened her eyes. She had thought that seeing her once was a stroke of luck, but she never expected to hear a lecture on the sword, "... How long has Ming Ming Jianzhu Ming been lecturing?"

"About half a quarter of an hour," Zhang Dingyun said. "She just performed a sword move earlier. It was truly indescribable—hurry up and follow me!"

"!" Li Piaoqing widened her eyes even more and turned to go inside, but paused immediately, "Wait!"

She searched around anxiously again—seeing Ming Ming Jianzhu Ming was indeed an impulse she couldn't suppress in her heart, but this candy was too sweet and joyful. She really couldn't bear to enjoy it alone.

"What's wrong?" Zhang Dingyun stopped and looked back.

"Have you seen Pei Ye?"

"You'll know when you go in and see. Hurry up!"

"Ah?... Young Master Zhang, actually I'll just go by myself. You go be busy."

Zhang Dingyun rolled his eyes: "I was looking for you."

"... Ah?"

While speaking, they had already passed through the second courtyard. Going further in, it was a small garden. Green trees, bamboo, rockeries, and winding water were places for officials to rest and gather on weekdays.

As soon as Li Piaoqing stepped in here, her footsteps had already slowed down on their own.

Nearly thirty or forty people.

Shadows flickered among the bamboo trees. Brocade robes stood quietly. The atmosphere was silent, and even the sound of water seemed to have been slowed down.

Li Piaoqing immediately realized she had arrived at the place. An inexplicable tension arose, and her heart pounded. She walked two steps into the woods, and a clear, water-like female voice flowed into her ears.

"The so-called Bai Zhu Sword is in this position. Technique and path are only refined and skilled. First is hard work, second is a sensitive heart. If you want to advance, you still have to go toward the path of spiritual enlightenment. As for how to enter the intent through technique, you can go to Bai Lugong to take a look."

All sides were quiet, and only this light and slow voice flowed. The girl walked forward gently in a daze. Figures gradually appeared. Except for some familiar martial arts talents, there were many true celebrities and seniors. The first figure was Zhao Zhang. This Inspector who loved the sword was staring intently. Further ahead were green and purple robes, each with a short sword tied to their waist, also saying nothing.

Li Piaoqing didn't have time to identify more celebrities and dignitaries, because that figure had already appeared in her field of vision.

Standing alone before the crowd, she stood there.

White clothes and black hair, her straight back was like a sword as clear as autumn water. Even if she looked from afar in the back row, she was still a unique grace in the world.

The appearance of Ming Ming Jianzhu Ming had long been circulated, and the girl had also drawn countless imaginations about her. Sometimes she would think that over-beautifying something would inevitably lead to disappointment, because everyone lived in a reality covered with dust.

But until this figure truly entered her pupils, she knew that it was not the imagination that beautified reality, but the illusory conception could never reach the true stunning beauty.

She was truly and genuinely transcendent.

Born in the clouds, the Sword Prince with a nature like light amber, those peaceful eyes, just like the translucent and clear divine sword in her hand, had always been the kind of clear and transparent clarity that the girl yearned for most in her heart.

Li Piaoqing watched in a daze, her eyes suddenly sore.

"The Bai Zhu Sword is just like this." After the woman finished this sentence, the cool voice stopped there.

The field was silent. Li Piaoqing was dazed for a while before realizing that the sword lecture had ended.

The girl was caught off guard and lost, even at a loss—how could it be so fast?

She couldn't help but take two steps forward, already arriving beside Elder Qinghuang and Zihuang, turned her head and asked in a low voice: "Senior Elder Qinghuang, can we go and say two words to Ming Ming Jianzhu Ming?"

Elder Qinghuang smiled, and on the other side, Zihuang grabbed the lead: "You say two words, I say two words, wouldn't Ming Ming Jianzhu Ming be troubled to death!"

Elder Qinghuang smiled gently: "Young Sect Master, it's better not to go. Coming here on our own initiative today, Ming Ming Jianzhu Ming lecturing for everyone is already an unexpected face. Inspector Zhao has already exhorted one by one, not to disturb with social niceties again."

"... Oh." Li Piaoqing lowered her head in disappointment.

The white-clothed woman naturally didn't make this preparation and had already carried her sword down.

Actually, it was right. Everyone wanted to say two words to Ming Ming Jianzhu Ming, but Ming Ming Jianzhu Ming wouldn't want to chat with fifty or sixty strangers. If she had finally come to Bowang but was annoyed away...

Then she suddenly remembered something and raised her head to scan the surroundings—Pei Ye, he wouldn't have missed this tail, right? If he could hear this lecture, he would definitely benefit a lot.

Then her gaze fixed, her heart jumped, and she had already seen that sitting back.

The youth was sitting in the front row. He was no longer in the messy attire of yesterday. He was wearing that green uniform, and the seriousness and contemplation on his face had not yet faded. His hands seemed to be unconsciously fiddling with two or three flowers.

Li Piaoqing breathed a sigh of relief, and her mood became bright again—not hearing Ming Ming Jianzhu Ming's lecture, she could just ask Pei Ye to lecture for her!

Her heart was tightened again, but this time the girl didn't give herself a chance to hesitate. She lifted her legs and walked toward the youth, trying hard to make her pace and expression look relaxed and excited.

Her heart couldn't help but beat faster and faster, and the scene she had just taken in gave her a support—he was still wearing the clothes she gave him.

Getting closer and closer to that figure, the youth's gaze was still just looking forward. Li Piaoqing deeply suppressed her throat and her rapidly beating heart, fearing that she would lose her courage again if she were looked at by those eyes, so a distant, light greeting was already in her throat—

Pei...

A cool voice like the night flowed into her ears first.

"How much did you write down?"

This voice was so recognizable that Li Piaoqing's whole body stiffened. She turned her head in a daze, and the goddess-like woman was walking over, stopping in front of Pei Ye.

Li Piaoqing then realized the youth's point of gaze all along. He was standing up with a smile, and some bright colors leaked out from the cover of the seat. Li Piaoqing was stunned for a moment before recognizing that it was a large bouquet of well-woven flowers.

"I wrote it all down." The youth said.

Ming Qitian nodded. The voice that had only been heard once just now flowed into the girl's ears without any stinginess: "Analyze the sword you are learning tonight according to the logic I just narrated. It will be twice the result with half the effort."

"Alright, Miss Ming." Pei Ye stood in front of this woman, looking a bit distracted and nervous, his body exuding a kind of stiff tension with muscles tightened.

Li Piaoqing felt her body sinking into silence—she suddenly found that she was very familiar with the youth's nervous posture.

"Is there anything you don't understand?"

"There is a little... Miss Ming, you just said to lean toward the path of spiritual enlightenment, why go to learn from Bai Lugong? Isn't that more inclined to technique? Aren't they extreme in technique before reaching intent and heart path? The Bai Zhu Cabinet shouldn't have such powerful sword techniques."

"It doesn't have to be that high. It's saying the spiritual enlightenment of 'technique' itself."

"... Oh."

At this time, the entire garden was quiet, and many people's eyes and ears were still following this Zhanxin Liuli Ming Ming Jianzhu. Li Piaoqing listened to the words flowing into her ears from afar, and her face gradually lowered.

So, he had already found a way to talk... It's also right, such a sword genius, seeing Ming Ming Jianzhu Ming...

But, it's also very normal. She would also very much want to talk to Ming Ming Jianzhu Ming. If she could talk, she would definitely be very nervous... But you are really stupid when chatting, Pei Ye. Ming Ming Jianzhu Ming doesn't seem to want to pay attention to you either.

Seeing the person she liked showing such a nervous and clumsy look in front of another woman, the girl's heart was indeed sour and low, but this was a normal thing after all, and Ming Ming Jianzhu Ming couldn't possibly...

But she only heard the youth suddenly ask again with some trepidation: "Miss Ming, that... is it engraved?"

Li Piaoqing was startled.

She saw Ming Qitian nod and hand a small copper strip to the youth.

Why was there still a handing over?

The girl found that she seemed to have some misinterpretations about the relationship between the two. She watched in a daze, and the next scene made her suddenly feel that what she saw became a bit unreal, and her heart sank deeply.

In front, Pei Ye was happily and carefully holding the copper strip to examine it, while the woman took out a small booklet from her bosom and handed the Heart-Slaying Zhanxin Liuli in her hand to the youth.

This divine and beautiful long sword deeply amazed the girl, but there was no surprise on the youth's face, nor was there any question. He just naturally took it and held it in his arms, his two hands still flipping through the copper strip in his hand.

Then he gave an embarrassed smile, leaned forward and said: "Miss Ming, can you add your name here?"

Ming Qitian turned her head to look, added a few strokes according to his words, and then opened the booklet in her hand, pointing with a small pen in her other hand: "I have repaired seventeen places in the Yunlang sword, four of which I must tell you..."

"Oh!" Pei Ye leaned beside her to take a look.

At the same time as seeing this familiar booklet, Li Piaoqing was completely stunned on the spot.

Feeling the whole person falling.

*General Theory of Sword Arts of the Six Dynasties*.

So that's how it is...

They have always been friends who know each other.

The letter signed "Ming": "Even if you lose in one round, you are still a genius second to none in Shao Long. The days when the carp and kun dive deep, and the dragon and roc have not yet flown, setbacks and losses are inevitable. Don't always look at the gains and losses left and right, just look ahead."

Ming Ming Jianzhu Ming... would encourage him like this...

Past events surged up one by one. In front of her, the woman who was like the reincarnation of Gu She held the booklet peacefully, lecturing on those divine sword logics specifically for the youth. And the youth stood on the side holding the Zhanxin Liuli sword, his expression immersed and his eyes obsessed. When he occasionally looked up at the woman, the brightness in his eyes was by no means fake.

Li Piaoqing suddenly covered the yellow skirt on her body unconsciously. The feelings she had packed up and the excuses she had worked hard to find were all shattered at this moment.

She had of course always been sentimental. He certainly wouldn't have any liking for her, and he certainly... was willing to completely end this friendship.

Because there was someone like Ming Ming Jianzhu Ming...

As long as you look at that nervous and tense look that was not focused on the heart—it was exactly the same as herself at that time—you should know what kind of thoughts the youth held.

Li Piaoqing watched this scene in a daze, not knowing what it tasted like in her heart, only feeling that the purpose of her trip seemed to have been achieved.

So she thought of the youth's joke with Shi Zanxue again, and lowered her head lightly. "So, he likes this kind of truly beautiful one, Ming Ming Jianzhu Ming."

The goddess-like grace of the woman still made her yearn and admire, but at this moment it indeed brought her true suffocation and stinging pain. She of course shouldn't go over—whether it was to see Ming Ming Jianzhu Ming or Pei Ye, she didn't know what she could go and say.

Under this deeply falling pressure, several slight exclamations came from beside her.

The girl who was immersed in emotions only then realized what had just happened.

The woman's lecture on the *General Theory of Sword Arts of the Six Dynasties* seemed to have ended. She stepped back a few steps and flipped through it herself, while Pei Ye began to tidy up his clothes. At this time, Zhang Dingyun ran over and said something.

Pei Ye turned his head in surprise when he heard the words and looked straight at her.

And she, as if burned by fire, immediately lowered her head to avoid his gaze.

Li Piaoqing watched the ground in a daze for a while, and the exclamation sounded at this time.

Consciousness returned. The girl raised her head and saw the youth bending down, clumsily holding up the woven flowers. His stiff body had already tightened to the extreme, his expression like a clay figurine that was clumsily pinched and air-dried.

"..." Li Piaoqing watched stiffly. She was almost immediately aware of what the youth was going to do, and at the same time aware of its profound cruelty to herself.

Everyone was also aware.

The tension and stiffness that the youth had shown in this conversation with the Zhanxin Liuli Ming Ming Jianzhu were obvious to all. Everyone saw that he was nervous about what was about to happen.

It was exactly the same as when everyone first felt moved in their youth.

Clumsy in exactly the same way.

But in fact, not many people thought that the youth really dared to express his feelings to this woman. He might just want to give a bouquet of flowers, deceiving himself that this didn't represent anything, but his body had already betrayed its master by being nervous first.

Li Piaoqing's heart was deeply clenched.

Compared to the cruelty to her own feelings, the girl suddenly found that she was more afraid of seeing the embarrassment the youth was about to encounter. At this moment, his clumsiness had already made her heart ache—he was so high-spirited... The girl couldn't help but take a step forward, wanting to pull him back.

So she really opened her mouth. In the silence, the girl's crisp voice trembled slightly: "Ming Ming Jianzhu Ming is really beautiful, and she is born like a 'Bright Ming Jing Bing Jian'!"

Pei Ye, don't be a fool. The Bright Ming Jing Bing Jian has long reflected the thoughts in your heart.

But the next moment, everyone couldn't help but be slightly startled.

Pei Ye held the flowers in his hand, still nervous and motionless. Instead, the woman glanced toward the voice, nodded slightly, and then reached out to help the youth brush off a speck of dust on the petals in front of him.

Then she lowered her head again to flip through the booklet in her hand.

There was no other reaction, as if this matter had nothing to do with her at all.

"..."

So people looked at Pei Ye's expression in a daze. It was not the embarrassment after being ignored, but still the nervous look of being ready to go. His expression and body became more and more stiff. He turned around and walked step by step into the crowd.

He stood in front of the dazed girl.

The youth's voice trembled much more obviously than the girl's just now. His face was flushed, and his head was lowered, not daring to look at the girl in front of him, only handing the flowers forward lightly: "Li Piaoqing, let's... that, go boating this afternoon. This... I only know how to weave this, there aren't many flowers here... giving it to you."

It was really woven very beautifully, firm and exquisite. Even though there were only three colors, the youth had tried hard to embellish them very well.

In the silence and quiet, the youth swallowed hard and looked up at the pair of eyes in front of him: "Sorry, Li Piaoqing... I'm too stupid."

Li Piaoqing didn't move. In the perception of being like a dream, she heard the youth's small whisper as he lowered his head again: "Is Ming Qitian beautiful? I think you are much better looking than her."

Helping a friend promote a book, if you are interested, you can go take a look.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 267 =====